WHY BICOL AUTONOMY?
Some people are wondering why there is BICOL AUTONOMY MOVEMENT (BAM) in spite of the perceived shortcomings in the country’s autonomous regions.
I wish to cite at least two considerations glimpsed in recent discussions why autonomy is still an option: (1)some of the autonomous set up in the country are really intended as anti-insurgency mechanism and did not effectively generate the consensus of the people towards autonomy, and (2)no genuine autonomy was really granted to the regions.
Thus, for the BAM to be effective, autonomy must be born out of peoples’ consensus, generate development directions, and provide meaningful economic as well as political autonomy.